UAE presents three working papers to First Arab Ministerial Forum for Housing and Urban Development in Cairo

CAIRO, 23rd December, 2015 (WAM) - Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Public Works, and Chairman of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, said the UAE has gone a long way in providing decent housing to Emirati citisens. Speaking before the First Arab Ministerial Forum for Housing and Urban Development (AMFHUD) in Cairo, the UAE minister said the UAE had presented three working papers on the future of housing in the Arab World. The Arab citisens, he noted, were facing tremendous housing challenges and called for finding out practical, applicable solutions. In his initial remarks, the Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, Mostafa Madbouly, stressed the importance of this first forum as a step towards achieving sustainable development aiming at elaborating mechanisms to address current and future urban challenges and opportunities in the Arab region, taking into account economic, social and environmental dimensions. AMFHUD aims to promote awareness, exchange valuable experiences across Arab States, present best practices and advocate regional cooperation. It will also inform the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular goal 11 to "make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable." The event was organised by the Egyptian Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities in partnership with the League of Arab States, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and Arab Urban Development Institute. The Forum has brought together 550 high level ministerial delegations, representatives of national and regional organisations, private sector as well as civil society from 18 Arab states. The Arab Strategy for Housing and Sustainable Urban Development represents an implementation methodology for localising the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Arab Region, in particular Goal 11 – Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable – by addressing the key challenges for housing and urbanisation towards a New Urban Agenda for the Arab States. The Strategy proposes a set of goals and targets to develop a sustainable housing sector and achieve integrated, inclusive and sustainable urbanisation at regional level, to be adapted and expanded to specific conditions at country level. The Forum issues the ''Cairo Declaration'' which calls for taking appropriate measures to implement the new urban agenda of Habitat III - the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, which offers Member States an opportunity to discuss a New Urban Agenda that will focus on policies and strategies that can result in effectively harnessing the power and forces behind urbanisation. AMFHUD represents the technical platform for reporting progress of the goals and targets set by the Arab Strategy for Housing and Sustainable Urban Development. – Emirates News Agency, WAM - http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395289557482.html